Snap-on decorative gutter cover

ABSTRACT

A DECORATIVE GUTTER COVER COMPRISES A TROUGH-LIKE MOLDING STRIP WHICH IS ADAPTED TO BE ATTACHED TO AND TO FIT OVER THE OUTER SURFACE OF A GUTTER, WHICH MAY BE ALREADY IN PLACE ON A BUILDING. THE STRIP INCLUDES AT ITS REAR END AN UPSTANDING FLANGE WHICH IS ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED BETWEEN THE LOWER END OF THE GUTTER AND THE BUILDING, AND AT ITS UPPER FORWARD END A HORIZONTAL FLANGE WHICH CAN   BE BENT OVER THE UPPER DISTAL END OF THE GUTTER TO HOLD THE STRIP IN PLACE ON THE GUTTER.

y 13, 1971 M. FORMANEK ETAL 3 9 SNAP'QN DECORATIVE GUTTER COVER Filed Feb. 19, 1969 a INVENTORS N43 MILTON FORMANEK RAYMOND A.KOLAR Aiig 5 ,592,72 ice 3 1 Patented July 13, 1971 3,592,721 SNAP-N DECORATIVE GUTTER COVER Milton Formanek, 3350 83rd St., Downers Grove, Ill.

60515, and Raymond A. Kolar, 238 Woodstock, Clarendon Hills, Ill. 60514 Filed Feb. 19, 1969, Ser. No. 800,537 Int. Cl. B32b 1/00, 3/00, 3/04 US. Cl. 161-125 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A decorative gutter cover comprises a trough-like molding strip which is adapted to be attached to and to fit over the outer surface of a gutter, which may be already in place on a building. The strip includes at its rear end an upstanding flange which is adapted to be inserted between the lower end of the gutter and the building, and at its upper forward end a horizontal flange which can be bent over the upper distal end of the gutter to hold the strip in place on the gutter.

This invention relates to a decorative gutter cover, and it more particularly relates to a decorative gutter cover which is adapted to be attached to and to conceal the cover which is adapted to be attached to and to conceal the outer surface of a gutter, which may be already in place on a building.

Galvanized iron gutters, which have been used on buildings for many years, possess relatively great structural strength and durability. However, a problem long associated with galvanized iron gutters has been the inability of such gutters to retain paint. As a result, soon after painting galvanized iron gutters, the paint is usually peeling and is unattractive. Moreover, it is usually recommended to Weather a newly installed unpainted galvanized iron gutter before painting it so that when the gutter is eventually painted, the paint will better adhere to the gutter. However, for most applications, such a time delay in painting the gutters is undesirable and unwanted.

In an attempt to avoid the disadvantages of galvanized iron gutters, aluminum gutters having baked-on enamel finishes are oftentimes used, but they are not entirely satisfactory. Aluminum gutters are relatively flimsy, and thus they do not possess adequate structural strength. In this regard, in wintertime, ice which may form in aluminum gutters can cause them to split and break apart. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a decorative cover or molding which is adapted to be attached to a galvanized iron gutter so that the structural strength of the gutter could be utilized and the cover would provide the ornamental finish for the gutter.

Since many galvanized iron gutters are already installed and have the above disadvantage, it would be desirable to provide a cover construction which can be installed over the existing gutters.

Accordingly, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved decorative gutter cover.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved gutter cover which may be composed of a material that retains its finish under adverse weather conditions and which can be readily attached, without using special tools, to a gutter which is in place on a building.

The above and further objects of the present invention may be realized by providing a decorative gutter cover comprising an elongated, trough-like molding strip which is adapted to be attached to a gutter to conceal the outer exposed surface thereof. The strip includes at its rear end an upstanding flange which is adapted to be inserted between the building and the lower end of the gutter which can be sprung away from the building by means of a simple tool, such as a screwdriver. A horizontal flange at the upper front end of the strip is adapted to be bent over the upward distal end of the gutter to hold the strip in place on the gutter.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a decorative gutter cover installed on a gutter fastened to the eaves of a building;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary isometric view in reduced scale of the gutter cover of FIG. 1 before installation thereof; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, reduced-scale view of the underside of the gutter cover of FIG. I joined to a similar gutter cover at a corner.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a gutter cover 10 which embodies the principles of the present invention and which fits over and is attached to a galvanized iron gutter 12 which in turn is fastened to the outer face of the eaves 14 of a roof of a building by means of a plurality of nails, such as the nail 16. The gutter cover 10 is an elongated, trough-like strip and includes at its rear end an upstanding flange 18 which is adapted to b inserted between the outer face of the eaves 14 and a rear wall 20 of the gutter 12. The cover 10 includes at its upper front end a horizontal flange 22 which, as shown in FIG. 1, is bent over the upper distal end 24 of the gutter 12 to hold the cover 10 in place on the gutter. In order to install the gutter cover 10, a simple tool, such as a screwdriver, is inserted between the rear wall 20 of the gutter 12 and the adjacent portion of the outer face of the eaves 14 to pry the lower portion of the gutter 12 aways from the eaves 14, such a procedure being possible with most gutters since they are usually fastened to the eaves at the upper portion of their rear wall. The upstanding flange 18 is then inserted between the wall 20 and the eaves 14, and the upper flange 22 is then bent over the upper distal end 24 of the gutter 12 by means of another simple tool, such as a pair of pliers.

Considered in greater detail and with reference to the drawings, the cover 10 is composed of a material, such as aluminum with a baked-on enamel finish, which retains its color upon exposure to adverse weather conditions. The cover 10 is preferably manufactured in standard size sections, such as sections which are eight feet in length. Where aluminum having a baked-on enamel finish is used, a sheet of aluminum having such a finish can be bent into the shape as illustrated in FIG. 2, or the baked-on enamel can be applied to the aluminum sheet subsequent to bending it into its final shape.

The cover 10 has a bottom wall 26 which underlies the bottom wall 28 of the gutter 12 when the cover is assembled to the gutter and which terminates in the upstanding vertical flange 18. A flat front wall 31 has a flat vertical upper portion 33 and terminates in the upper horizontal flange 22, which is flat prior to installation. Since the sole function of the cover 10 is ornamentation, the front wall 31 need not provide structural strength for the cover, and thus the front wall 31 can be of any desired configuration. In order to facilitate bending the horizontal flange 22 over the upper distal end 24 of the gutter 12 during installation, the horizontal flange 22 includes a plurality of tabs 35 which are formed by cutting a plurality of equally-spaced slits or notches 37 in the flange 22. In order to accommodate a cross brace on the gutter extending between the upper distal end 24 of the gutter and the rear wall 20, a portion of the flange 22 may be cut away by means of a pair of metal cutting shears. A plurality of equally-spaced slits or notches 39 are cut in the upstanding flange 18 to facilitate the insertion thereof between the eaves 14 and the rear wall 20 of the gutter 12.

Referring now to FIG. 3, in order to join two gutter covers at a corner, the end of one of the gutter covers, such as the gutter cover 10, may be cut on a 45 degree bias at 41 and overlie the end portion of an adjoining, similar gutter cover 43. During installation, the end portion of the upstanding flange of the cover 43 is cut away along the dotted line 44 by a distance equal to the width of the gutter 12 to permit the cover 43 to lay flat against the gutter 12. Moreover, in order to bend the cover 43 into conformity with the gutter 12, the end portion of a front wall 45 of the cover 43 may be slit along the dotted line 46 where the front wall 45 joins the bottom wall 47 of the cover 43 to permit the end portion of the front wall 45 and the end portion of the bottom wall 47 to be bent into conformity with the gutter 12. As a result, the mitered end portion of the cover 10 can then be installed over the end portion of the cover 43 to hold it in place.

While the present invention has been described in connection with particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood that many changes and modification of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope thereof. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

We claim:

1. A gutter cover for concealing the rain gutter of a building, which gutter is in the form of an open top trough secured near its rear support edge to said building, said cover comprising:

a unitary, elongated sheet of manually bendable, substantially non-resilient material having,

a fiat upstanding rear flange portion adapted to extend a short distance upwardly between said building and the rear wall of said gutter thereby to be wedged between said gutter and said building,

a bottom web portion adapted to underlie the bottom of said gutter in engagement therewith,

an upstanding forward web portion for covering the front of said gutter, and

a horizontal flange forming the front marginal edge of said cover and adapted to be bent over the upper forward edge of said gutter to secure said cover thereto,

said rear flange terminating a substantial distance below said horizontal flange.

2. A gutter cover as set forth in claim 1 wherein said rear flange is provided with a plurality of spaced apart slits.

3. A gutter cover as set forth in claim 1 wherein said horizontal flange is provided with a plurality of spaced apart slits.

4. A gutter cover as set forth in claim 1 wherein said upstanding forward web portion has a vertical upper portion and a flat lower portion meeting said bottom web portion at an angle of about sixty degrees.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,968,217 7/1934 Moflit 52-94 2,256,967 9/1941 Stagg 5213 2,930,652 3/1960 Bidlingmaier et al. 5211 3,252,288 5/1966 Tennison 5211 3,355,895 12/1967 Bayes et a1. 52-11 HAROLD ANSHER, Primary Examiner W. E. HOAG, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 52-11; l6199 

